The Supreme Court has reached the last days of its current session. People have been wondering what it would do with an important gerrymandering case. This issue was significant because the Republicans redistricted so outrageously that they were almost guaranteed an illegal win.
What is gerrymandering? This occurs at Census time, when a political party in control draws a district boundaries to establish a strong political advantage.
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Texas’ favor along party lines, according to ABC News. The justices’ decision came after they said the case lacked appropriate evidence to prove that the state’s Republicans “acted in bad faith” and “engaged in intentional discrimination” with its maps of two U.S. congressional districts and a number of legislative districts.
The lawsuit consolidated two cases in Texas’ 2011 redistricting plan drawn by state Republicans. The 2010 census indicated that 90 percent of the people who moved to the state were minorities, and they typically vote for Democratic candidates.
A district court developed a remedial plan to take effect for the 2012 elections. Yet, the Supreme Court quashed that, saying the plan went well beyond its mission. It ordered the district court to use the 2011 map to develop a new plan.
Even so, Texas used the remedial plan for the basis of its 2013 redistricting map.
The Supreme Court justices said that the lower court accurately ruled in favor of one of the state’s legislative districts, which was gerrymandered along racial lines.
However, the Supreme Court on Monday largely ruled in favor of Texas, reviving congressional and legislative districts a lower court struck down. That court ruled Texas diluted the votes of black and Hispanic voters.
The 35th Congressional District was held by Representative Lloyd Doggett (D), and Representative Blake Farenthold (R) held the 27th district. The court’s decision put both in action.
The plaintiffs argued that these two districts just stayed exactly in the “same configuration” as in 2011. They also argued that a lower court struck the configuration down in 2017.
Featured Image via Getty Images/Terry Ashe.
